Next Week’s Tape: Sandy Washes Over Jobs Report

National data showing the impact of superstorm Sandy on economic activity will arrive next week. The most important will be November’s payroll report set for next Friday.

Although Sandy made U.S. landfall in late October, the Labor Department conducts its payroll survey around the 12th of each month, so the October data was in the can when the storm hit.

The November report will capture lingering impacts on the labor markets, including workers who could not get to their jobs because of bad weather.

Economists expect Sandy was a drag on net job growth this month. The median forecast of economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires expect 98,000 new jobs were added in November, down from a healthy 171,000 created in October.

The November unemployment rate is forecast to remain at 7.9%.

Other November numbers will include business surveys done by the Institute for Supply Management and vehicle sales.

The ISM factory report, scheduled for Monday, is expected to show manufacturing is barely expanding in November. The purchasing managers’ index is forecast to fall to 51.0 from 51.7 in October.

The non-manufacturing index, out on Wednesday, is expected to drop to 53.5 from 54.2 last month.

The pace of vehicle sales may be lifted by Sandy as consumers replaced damaged cars, say economists at T. Rowe Price. The median forecast of all economists surveyed expect sales came in at an annual rate of 15.2 million this month, from 14.2 million in October.

MarketWatch’s Polya Lesova stopped by the Markets Hub this morning to preview the week ahead:

Here’s next week’s data calendar:

Monday

Economics:

ISM November manufacturing PMI (10:00): seen sliding to 51 to 51.7.

October construction spending (10:00): seen rising 0.5%, after rising 0.6% in September.

November vehicle sales: annualized sales rate seen rising to 15.2 million from 14.2 million in October.

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